September 29, 2023
Proposed 24 pack of Crayon crayons
Peter Donahue applies color theory to crayons in this TikTok video. See also: his Instagram video that adjusts colors to perceptual differences. Good good good. / with a hat tip to Wendy for the link!

Sam Smith Tiny Desk Concert
Just kicking back on a Friday night after dinner watching this performance and enjoying it immensely. Gave some applause to the TV when the last song finished but figured I'd extend the appreciation with a link. Thanks for being wonderfully lovely Sam Smith.

Just staring at the work of Kumkum Fernando
I'm currently obsessed with the robot-like sculptures of this Sri Lankan-born artist thanks to Colossal.

September 27, 2023
The Catch, The Spill, and The Camera
Patrick Witty’s newsletter digs into the stories behind photos. This issue reveals a very specific camera behind a famous catch in the 1954 World Series. / hat tip to Sean

September 22, 2023
A few store fronts from NYC and what to get there
Chris Crowley from GrubStreet shares selections from the new photography book by James and Karla Murray and adds recommendations. (I love these photos) / via waxy

September 21, 2023
Rocumentaries
Curated links to the very best documentaries across a bunch of streaming services. (No idea why they call it Rockumentaries when all sorts are included) / via Rachel

September 20, 2023
Poor Things Trailer
A film with quite the pedigree of writing, directing and actors. This looks delightfully dark and intriguing and fun. / via Yewknee

September 19, 2023
The trick to the super-crayon was to keep adding new favorites
“Combining favorites to make new life happinesses.” (It isn’t just about making crayons)

Turn old greeting cards into a book
Send in greeting cards and postcards folks have sent to you and get a book back. (There's an option to get all the originals back.) As a hoarder of such things, this intrigues me, and has a tiny vibe of Nick Bantock’s Griffin & Sabine.

The scam era is upon us
Not the most exciting of topics, but it’s becoming very clear that scams are ramping up with AI tools. I was reading how a faked voice fooled a single person at Retool in a phishing attack. I'm telling friends and family to be extra alert. Seth has a great checklist to consider.

Beflo Standing Desk
I would consider trading in my desk for this beauty.

September 18, 2023
The internet used to be fun
Rachel collected of articles “that to some degree answer the question ‘Why have a personal website?’ with ‘Because it’s fun, and the internet used to be fun.’”

September 15, 2023
The Artists and Cartoonists Who Designed Pee-wee Herman’s World – Part One
This is only part one!? Subscribing to The Comics Journal to get alerted of future parts. A trove that already feels like it could fill a book. / via Yewknee

September 14, 2023
Hasselblad Xpan II
Reading about Travis Estell’s experience with this film camera and seeing the results makes me appreciate panoramas all over again.

Goodbye Summer
Matt Delatowski’s laid back, oceanside, golden hour to dusk short film for the change of the season. Dig the easy going vibe.

September 13, 2023
You can only work for people that you like
Replace “can” with “should” and you have a piece of advice I would give. You can certainly work for people you do not like, but make sure the sacrifice is brief and very worth it. (Then find the good people for your next thing.)

River, a visual connection engine
I don't really know what's happening here beyond surfing by like images, but I dig on several levels, the vibe, speed and sound effects. It'd be neat to surf through one's personal library of photos like this. / via Kottke

This Is Pop – A documentary about the band XTC
Loved XTC since Skylarking (and then went back in their catalog and loved that too). They never really toured so I’m curious to learn more about ’em with this doc. / via MetaFilter

Kylie Minogue’s impression of that AI voice
Short YouTube clip of Kylie doing a bit from Padam on a radio show as auto-generated text to speech. Whenever I think of AI voices, I pull up this video and laugh! Every. Single. Time.

Cy Biopharma identity and packaging
Swiss company producing psychedelics for chronic pain gets a brand that mixes “mystical with the scientific” by Play Studio. It’s nice to see the grids and use of a favorite typeface, Univers. / via BrandNew

September 8, 2023
Polaroid i2 Camera
Manual and automatic modes, a sharp lens (not glass, but sharp) and oodles of options that can all be managed in camera (like long and multiple exposures) without the need for an app. This YouTube review by In An Instant makes this latest rig look like a real winner.

An interview with Tobias Rylander, designer behind The 1975’s house set
I was lucky to catch The 1975 “At Their Very Best” tour and the set was so refreshingly different and awesome. It really felt like a theatrical production or watching a sitcom being filmed live.

September 6, 2023
Keith Haring made art with an Amiga Computer
His work translated perfectly to the medium. IWatched the video on Christie’s site wanting to know more about the app he used or some tangible bit of yay, but boiled down to Web3 and NFTs nonsense. Still. Lovely work! (Oh, it was probably Quantel Paintbox!)

September 1, 2023
Top word lookups on Merriam Webster
The list refreshes every 30 seconds. Could be a great tool to provoke random thought. / via Jasper

August 29, 2023
Adventures in Snail World
Sam Copeland and Aleia Murawski make these miniature sets. These particular ones are populated by snails and they put a big smile on my face. Oodles more shots on Aleia’s insta.

August 28, 2023
Workspaces
A collection of desk setups from all sorts of folks. Most are pristine (admission: I almost always tidy my workspace before taking a snapshot) — but there are a few lived in examples as well. A bonus of sites like this? All the new paths to wander and explore different personal corners of the internet!

Weeknight meals that come together in 40 minutes
Katy DeCorah shares family favorite quick meals with links to recipes. I _love_ lists like these.

August 26, 2023
Portfolio games
Ana Cuna’s website features an option to view illustration projects through a variety of games. Everything about this is delightful, including all the featured work.

August 23, 2023
Earthling, Golden Gate Park – Sept 17
An experimental music listening party in San Francisco. If I was closer I’d totally go to this (and not just because it’s free!). Been enjoying the introductions to the four bands that will be vibing. / via Tyler Mincey

August 22, 2023
Mystique Astrology kit by Mattel
Far out 70's psychedelic cartoon vibes on this binder filled with astrological charts and wheels and man I dig it.

August 21, 2023
Vampire Survivors
I’d seen this roguelike pop up on some lists but it wasn't until my friends Joe & Mike stopped by for game night with it loaded up on their Switch that I took interest. It is the most addictive game I’ve played in a while — like Dead Cells mixed with Gauntlet. There are no buttons, just directional pad controls. It is mad fun.

Chicken!
A dice game by Keymaster beautifully designed by Carpenter Collective. Just played this over the weekend and can attest, it is as fun as it is pretty. Super easy to learn and games are short.

Panda Game Manufacturing
Production of board games, cards, custom dice, packaging, coins, game pieces and then some. (Filing away because making a game is on my life bucket list!)

Chippy
Chrome extension to bring ChatGPT to a webpage by the minds at Fictive Kin / via Inspired By

Deck.gallery
Muharrem Şenyıl was searching for well-designed decks for inspiration and realized there was no dedicated place for them, so he made one.

August 17, 2023
A Riso-printing primer
Why yes, I have wanted to learn more about Riso printing. This link found along with more from Scott Bom’s Through Lines 169.

BlockFace – A Stamp Kit to Explore Typography
Another fine Kickstarter project by Martin Schneider bringing Will Mower’s type to many. This set of geometric stamps can form all sorts of letters and whatnot.

Pepper’s ghost quick demo
I have a sudden desire to pull all these bits together and play with a camera to capture this makeshift hologram like thing. A bit more about Pepper’s ghost on Wikipedia

Type Revival for Film & TV
Leah Spencer with some wonderful behind the scenes from the art department for film & TV. A healthy bit of process and examples from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel whet the appetite for a smorgasbord of additional goodness on Alphabettes / via Robin Rendle

August 14, 2023
Arosa, Switzerland + mountains + wind
Thanks to this post on Metafilter I’ve new things to put on the screen when I want to zone in or out. Study Sound Girl is based in Switzerland and makes oodles of these extra long soothing nature videos.

August 11, 2023
Dusking
The simple act of watching twilight. That’s it. A communal end to the day. A tiny rite of passage in which work is released and rest begins. Lovely. / thanks again to Guy

screw :) project
Designer Yuma Kano with the help of Komuro Industry in Osaka made these screws with smiley faces (and accompanying screwdriver). It's now a participatory art project with a map of all the screws photographed around the world. I love this. / via Things to Click

August 8, 2023
The morning of 8th August 1969
The Beatles’ road manager writes about a photoshoot on Abbey Road that day and includes a drawing of the moment.

Matching Inner Radii with CSS
These calculations are handy outside of code! (Had to verify the plural of radius) / via Cameron Moll

August 7, 2023
The Magic of Mr Masking
Superdig this approach to type by Gerardo Picado

August 2, 2023
The Live Music Archive
Open Culture sheds light on this trove of concert recordings on the Internet Archive. Yes, there are a lot of Grateful Dead shows, but there are gems. Spent my morning coffee with this quiet performance by Elliot Smith. There are tons of ways to browse. My only wish would be to sort by performance date.

2024 Toyota Land Cruiser
Admission: I had the live stream for this vehicle reveal on my calendar, excited by the rumors that Toyota was bringing this classic back to the US making it SMALLER and more agile. Definitely getting some Bronco competitive vibes from the boxy retro design. Plus also, hybrid.

July 31, 2023
Kern Type
A letter spacing game that’s quite the challenge. Mark MacKay also has made a few more games that teach design concepts. / via Tom Scott

July 26, 2023
Some facts about flight
In a chill dimensional web experience / via an article about depth scrolling

Sorting Therapy
This app is indeed delightful and reinforces the idea that meditation can come in many forms.

July 25, 2023
Bloomscrolling
New slang to me and a hashtag that is welcome! / via Paul Bausch

July 15, 2023
Tiny Awards
Andy Baio provides quick blurbs about all the entries in the running for this inaugural little thing to showcase small websites with big hearts.

July 14, 2023
Searching for a search engine
I first read about the search engine Kagi on Daring Fireball and started using it (and eventually subscribing) since. Garret Dimon offers a look at why it’s better.

Muffin Nation
I would very much like this UK chain to expand rapidly to Ohio. / via BrandNew

Greta Gerwig on the classic film influences behind Barbie
The Barbie marketing machine is in overdrive, but this tidbit on Letterboxd is a trove for understanding the director’s aim. And also a great list of movies to check out and revisit.

How those LED wristbands work at concerts
The technology is decidedly a lot simpler than I imagined. After watching this I feel Korean markets have a better approach to make the devices something of a keepsake.

How We Feel
An app to track emotions and discover patterns — with tools to articulate, understand and shift things.

July 13, 2023
Aptos, the new Microsoft default font
For 15 years it has been Calibri, a thoroughly uncomfortable san-serif. Aptos looks much nicer and is quite robust. / s’more insight on The Verge

July 12, 2023
What’s good: R.E.M. debuts on Letterman
Lately it’s been non-stop Taylor Swift and recipes, but sometimes the YouTube algorithm works.
